Advice needed on friend's gaming build

My friend's decided to finally get a desktop to replace his laptop for gaming, and I've agreed to help him pick out the parts he needs. I just wanted to run this by you guys to see if it sets off any red flags before we get it. We're in Canada, and he insists on picking up the stuff from a brick and mortar store, so our parts selection may be a little more limited. We're getting our stuff from Canada Computers. He just wants to have it all bought now rather than get a trickle of deliveries. So let's get started.

We're not entirely sure how many fans we need, we're aiming at two at this point, but we would like it to be quieter than a laptop on full blast

Whether or not the power supply is sufficient or overkill, we've used some sites that estimate about 330w, but they mention stuff about 12v rails which I'm not entirely sure of, I don't know much about PSUs other than Seasonic is good, and an Antec EA-450 EarthWatts 450W is also good

How long will this build be expected to last, we're hoping for at least two years or more or more before we start replacing anything.

Also we've never done this before,building a computer from scratch, so any heads up would be appreciated!

Oh and sorry if it's the wrong forum, most of the "Critique this build!" posts seem to end up here.

That said, that looks like a pretty good build, but there are a couple things I'd look at:

1.) Gigabyte is not in what I'd consider the top brands anymore (Asus, MSI, ASRock are). They've been caught playing shenanigans with their voltage reporting on 7x series chipset boards, so I'd see if you can find a mobo from one of the other top brands instead.

2.) You've got a K-series CPU and a Z77 mobo. If you're going to overclock, you'll want an aftermarket HSF.

3.) That PSU is discontinued (last Newegg reviews were in 2010, it's old enough that it might already be out of warranty) and pretty bare bones, with a possibility of coil whine. If there's not a huge cost difference to get a PSU that's actually new, I'd see if you can do that instead.

With those changes, that build should readily last 2-3 years without issue.

That said, that looks like a pretty good build, but there are a couple things I'd look at:

1.) Gigabyte is not in what I'd consider the top brands anymore (Asus, MSI, ASRock are). They've been caught playing shenanigans with their voltage reporting on 7x series chipset boards, so I'd see if you can find a mobo from one of the other top brands instead.

2.) You've got a K-series CPU and a Z77 mobo. If you're going to overclock, you'll want an aftermarket HSF.

3.) That PSU is discontinued (last Newegg reviews were in 2010, it's old enough that it might already be out of warranty) and pretty bare bones, with a possibility of coil whine. If there's not a huge cost difference to get a PSU that's actually new, I'd see if you can do that instead.

With those changes, that build should readily last 2-3 years without issue.

Pretty much what he said. The Asus and Asrock boards have treated me well over the last decade or so whereas Gigabyte is second only to ECS in failures and issues. But that's personal experience so take it as you will.

The PSU, yeah, the range is good with plenty of power, but getting something new can be done for the same money and you're just asking for less potential issues down the line.

I don't see a mechanical drive in there, is there a plan for one or is he going to try to live with JUST the SSD?

Heat sink, see if you can squeeze in $30 for a CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ or something similar. Great performance for the money!

That is a very solid list of parts. The only thing I would change is to an ASUS or ASRock motherboard, as mentioned above. And maybe dropping down to 8gb and using the saved money a Cooolermaster Hyper 212 EVO cpu cooler. I know RAM is ridiculously cheap (and I am being a hypocrite by having 16gb myself) but it really will make absolutely no improvement for gaming for the foreseeable future.

The CPU cooler on the other hand will be much quieter than the stock cooler and allow for higher overclocking which I suggest you do since its so easy today its dumb not to.

Looking at the Canada Computers site, I would suggest going with a different PSU. In addition to the age of the one you listed (still a decent PSU, but dated), you can get a more efficient 80Plus Gold unit for just a bit more.Either the Seasonic G-450 Modular 80PLUS Gold 450W PSU (SSR-450RM Active PFC F3) or the Seasonic G-550 Modular 80PLUS Gold 550W PSU (SSR-550RM Active PFC F3) will power that system easily.

Stick with the 16GB RAM. While it may not benefit your games that much, it should benefit other areas, and will be one less thing to upgrade/replace later.

You should only need to add one fan to that machine, as it comes with a rear exhaust already. Mounting it in the front is the traditional way, but you could mount it on the bottom instead, which would give the GPU a good dose of cool fresh air. That case gives you a number of options, and you can always reposition the fans if you find a particular area is more a of a hot spot than others. eg - if the CPU seems to be running warm, you could mount the fan up top, though that's typically used as an exhaust.2 fans as intakes won't hurt though, and if you pick quiet ones, won't add a huge amount of noise to the machine.

You might consider adding a 1TB drive (though 512GB would suffice) as additional storage. If it's just a gaming rig, and you don't anticipate having a couple dozen games on there at once, you can get by with just the SSD, but if you don't want to be bothered with managing your data, a regular HD as a second drive is a good idea.

As mentioned by others, if you're not planning to overclock, just get the i5 3570 and save some money there.I'd probably want a 23" monitor or larger if I were building a machine today.

2-3 years from what you've specc'ed is a quite reasonable expectation, though of course at some point a new title will appear that is more demanding than what your GPU can handle smoothly, but that will happen to any rig you build today.

I notice you've no optical in there, which is fine, but make sure to have USB thumb drive (4GB) on hand that you can dedicate for installing Windows. You could use a USB external DVD of course, but a thumb drive is far more convenient.

As for tips, here are a few.

Read the documentation for all the parts before you do anything. Everything may seem obvious, but may not be.

Plan out your install so things get installed in the least difficult order possible. With some cases you install the PSU last, some first, or the rest of the assembly is a pain for example.

Ground yourself before touching parts. Static kills parts.

Take your time, and do NOT try to assemble or configure the machine if you're tired, drunk or in some other chemically altered state. Things will go horribly, non RMA'ably wrong if you do. (You'd think that would be obvious, but half the "my new build won't post" threads here are caused by one or more of those, because the person was eager to get the new shiny up and running. No, they never admit it. )

Be careful around the CPU socket. Leave the protective cover on until the moment you install the CPU to protect those pins.

Just about every connector on a PC, save for the headers for the LED's and power switches are keyed so they only fit one way. If you find yourself forcing it, stop, step back and (literally) shine a light on the socket and the connector so you can see what you're doing wrong.

Since the end-result here is a Game Box, having a quality Keyboard, Video (Monitor) and mouse are real important.

I would stretch to get the largest, fastest monitor you can possibly afford. Your monitor is "in-your-face" every second you're in game. It makes the game real. If your monitor is too slow, you can't crank-up the eye candy to full effect, or its too small, you'll have a crap Game Box, no matter how fast your CPU is, how much RAM you have, or how may Watts (that you don't use ) your PSU puts out.

Keep in mind your video card scales to the monitor. (The video card you list is much too much video for that 21" monitor you list.)

Also, you'll have that monitor a long time. Monitor tech changes slowly in comparison to CPU/Memory/Mobo tech. You'll likely be using a good monitor two builds down the road. This Game Box will be long forgotten, but you'll still have the monitor.

A 23" IPS monitor would be good. I'd cut to the bone, dropping down to a 400W PSU, 8 GB RAM, an H77, and an Antec 300 case, if I thought I could stretch to a 27" IPS monitor.

I've forgotten to mention we do have an external 2tb drive to use for storage, so that isn't an issue, we've swapped out the PSU and the motherboard as suggested for a Asus P8Z77 and Corsair Builder Series CX500. We've already bought the parts, so sorry Pyscho, we couldn't make use of your advice for the PSU

We've assembled the machine already, with mostly minor hitches, we did have a couple concerns come up and one of them was the motherboard creaking a lot while we installing parts, the standoffs only went as far as 2/3rds of the motherboard so hooking up the power connector(it's on the edge) was a bit scary and likewise for the usb3 connector, and additionally, the both the power and usb3 connector are loose, but they're working, so we left it for now.

As for fans, we did pick up one, but since the PSU is mounted at the bottom of the case, it takes up the first vent, and the GPU's fan reaches the second vent, I wasn't sure mounting the fan at the bottom was an option. There wasn't a front air intake, so we ended up mounting the fan at the top.

We also came across conflicting advice for the I/O shield, some told us to take the prongs off, other told us to leave them untouched, and the other was to bend them if they're getting in the way, which we did for one of them, which was preventing us from mounting the motherboard. So which is it?

EDIT: Some point later on he'll be hooking up a small TV to his computer, so he doesn't think it's worth the trouble to return the monitor at the moment.

Only thing left to do is to stress test the rest of the components, and if we can find any fault we'll try to get the PSU replaced.

I've forgotten to mention we do have an external 2tb drive to use for storage, so that isn't an issue, we've swapped out the PSU and the motherboard as suggested for a Asus P8Z77 and Corsair Builder Series CX500. We've already bought the parts, so sorry Pyscho, we couldn't make use of your advice for the PSU

We've assembled the machine already, with mostly minor hitches, we did have a couple concerns come up and one of them was the motherboard creaking a lot while we installing parts, the standoffs only went as far as 2/3rds of the motherboard so hooking up the power connector(it's on the edge) was a bit scary and likewise for the usb3 connector, and additionally, the both the power and usb3 connector are loose, but they're working, so we left it for now.

We also came across conflicting advice for the I/O shield, some told us to take the prongs off, other told us to leave them untouched, and the other was to bend them if they're getting in the way, which we did for one of them, which was preventing us from mounting the motherboard. So which is it?

You do NOT remove the prongs. Whoever told you to do that is not competent to assemble PCs. The prongs are there to make contact with the metal casings around the ports for grounding. You may need to bend them slightly to get the ports under them, but they should touch when you're done.

The CX500 is a decent PSU, and should be fine, though less efficient.The board shouldn't creak, really, and the power connector shouldn't be loose at all. The USB 3.0 mobo connector isn't latching so that may not be the tightest fit. So long as you used standoffs for every hole the mobo has, it should be nice and secure.

I've forgotten to mention we do have an external 2tb drive to use for storage, so that isn't an issue, we've swapped out the PSU and the motherboard as suggested for a Asus P8Z77 and Corsair Builder Series CX500. We've already bought the parts, so sorry Pyscho, we couldn't make use of your advice for the PSU

You do NOT want to use an external drive for games storage. They're all slow 5400 RPM drives, hamstrung by a SATA-to-USB controller, and will have absolutely garbage access and transfer speeds. If you need more space for games than is offered by the SSD, just drop the cash on a decent 1TB 7200 RPM internal HD and be done.

As for the PSU, you basically swapped out an older SeaSonic design for a newer Channel Well one. Hard to say if you've improved the situation there, but it'll probably be fine.

The P8Z77-V LK is a great board, good choice there.

And board creak is not unexpected (especially when installing the CPU, that usually feels like you're going to break something), the power connectors can be pretty stiff, but you should have standoffs that line up with the edge of the board. The power connector should not be loose.

An ext hard drive is not the same as an internal hard drive because of the interface. Unless you're using an eSATA connector, that ext hard drive is going to be a poor substitute for on-demand/direct access. It's fine for archival purposes.

I second the Hyper 212+ (or EVO, in my case). I've had an AMD 720BE for 4 years using the stock cooler. Now, I should have re-set the cooler a few years ago, but my temps prior to the Hyper 212 EVO were about 39-44C running at stock 2.8ghz. I'm currently at 3.4ghz, 1.4375 and 26-27C idle/internet, with room to o/c more. $29 at Microcenter, or $19 for the Hyper 212+. Either way, don't use the stock cooler, it's worth a few bucks more to o/c.